The Mentor Connection

In the past several years the concept of the mentor has become a part of the common parlance in organizational life. There is widespread interest in the pivotal role of mentoring of the success of individuals, & research has confirmed that mentors play a major role in career development. Now human resources & organizational development groups have come to appreciate the role of mentoring on the donor as well as recipient, for the career of the helper no less than the person being helped. Using interviews with over 150 executives in Fortune 500 companies & smaller firms, Zey explores here the dynamics of the mentoring relationship, locating benefits of this phenomenon in career growth, job satisfaction, & social mobility. The result is an exciting view of the social interactions & politics involved in mentoring. He shows mentoring impact on career advancement & work performance & offers guidelines for establishing formal mentoring programs in business & industry.